Retired from the University of Texas and too old to play soccer anymore. Now, in the twilight of his years, time is spent writing in this blog, hiking and exploring Texas Parks, photography, working out, gardening and tending to the five ponds he built .

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One Man’s Story – Chapter 11

True to form, I ended up in the Bar and the usual crowd of suspects were all there. The old men playing dominos and Mike hustling at the pool table even down to Rachel and Elizabeth in their usual places. There were a few others that hadn’t been there the last time I was in and I didn’t recognize them straight away. I asked the barman who they were and he passed along their information. I bought Mike his usual beer and treated the girls at the counter to which Rachel, who I considered to be the best looking of the two, probably because she had blonde hair and that was one of my weaknesses turned to me and said “Thanks, Bob. “Yeah, thanks Bob” said Elizabeth who had the better figure. She had this wonderful bust and flaunted it for all to see. Too bad the rest may be spoiled goods…

I went over to them and chatted trying to find out if they had heard any scuttlebutt about Mike but they too had nothing to offer on the subject. “Thanks Ladies” I said and made my way over to the pool table putting down my money and challenging Mike to a game. I was out of touch and easily lost the first game but decided to try one more time. This time, I got lucky as Mike accidentally sank the black giving me the game.

I moved over to the dominos game and watched the old men play. You could tell of the camaraderie these guys showed to each other, each supporting the others story as though they were the last of a dying breed. Maybe they are as all of them are well into their eighties. “Want to join in ” one of them asked?

“No thanks” I responded with a chuckle “I’m not old enough yet”.

In walked Valerie and went to sit at the bar. She had on a short dress which showed a lot of leg as she sat on the stool. She saw me and smiled. “Hi, you made it” I said as I walked over to her. “What would you like to drink”? I sat on the stool next to her and we chatted about the clientel and how and what they did for a living. Turns out, she was pretty knowledgable about several of them and knew a lot more than I did. “Doesn’t your wife ever come in here” Valerie asked. “She has been known to slum it sometime but really prefers the Royal as it has little more higher class clientel. I’m afraid, she is a bit of a snob”. “Too bad” Valerie said “I would like to meet her sometime” I thought to myself how interesting a meeting that might turn out to be.

We chatted some more and then she arose to go. “Walk me to my car, please” she said “Of course, that’s what gentlemen do” I said. This time when she turned to kiss me on the cheek, I turned my head enough that our lips became locked together in a long lingering kiss. I came up for air and she said “Wow, where did that come from” “Wow indeed” I replied “I have been wanting to do that for a long time and wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. Did you mind”? “Not one bit” was her response “Lets take it slow and easy” as she started her car. As she drove slowly away, she waved at me.

I drove home to Jodi wondering what sort of reception I could expect. Would it be the hot “can’t wait to get you in bed one” or the usual, “how was your day, dear”? When I arrived home, the house was in darkness with only a couple of lamps burning, the ones that come on automatically to keep the burglars away. There was no sign of Jodi but she had left me a note. “Went to the Mall. Will be back around ten-ish”

I hunted around and found something to eat that wasn’t going to take any time to cook and parked myself and the food in front of the TV and turned to my favorite channel to watch a soccer game from England. We didn’t get to watch too many such games so this was sort of special occasion. I discovered that I was quite happy sitting alone with the TV for company. The phone rang and when I answered, Jodi was on the other end. “Hello” she said “I’m going to be late as I ran into one of my old friends from the next village and we are going to watch a movie together. Is that OK with you”. “Since when have you needed my permission to go out with your friends” I remarked. “I am quite happy here watching this game” She hung up and flashbulbs started to go off in my head. I wondered if this was a friend as she remarked or was the this the beginning of the end in our marriage. I decided that I wasn’t going to achieve anything by worrying about it and switched off the tube and went to bed.

I was awakened by the sound of voices and lay there and listened. I could pick out Jody and heard the un-mistaken sound of a man’s voice telling her goodnight. The front door closed so I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep when she climbed into bed. Jody made no attempt to wake me but turned away and snuggled under the covers drawing them over her body. I had noticed when I heard the voices that the time was 2:30 am and wondered just what Jody had been up to that kept her out so late, or should I say so early.